Sophocles Ajax 179

Thomas Francklin (Translator)

Table of Contents

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Card
← Previous Next →
Teucer
But wherefore is it so ?

Ajax. Sophocles. Thomas Francklin (Translator). London. 1758–1759.

Current edition Experimental

English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759) (OCR draft) (English) (English (Thomas Francklin, 1758–1759))

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (4)
Αἴας μαστιγοφόρος First1KGreek (Sophocles. Sophoclis Aiax. Lobeck Christian, editor. Berlin: Weidmann, 1866.) — 172-201 focus
Αἴας First1KGreek (Sophocles. Sophoclis Fabulae. Pearson, Alfred Chilton, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.) — 172-200 focus
Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) — 179 focus
ἢ χαλκοθώραξ †*ἢ τιν' ἤ την᾿ ἢ τίν' ή τιν' ᾿Ενυάλιος
Greek (F. Storr, 1912) (OCR draft) Experimental (Greek (F. Storr, 1912)) — 172-200 focus
Translations (4)
English (Lewis Campbell, 1906) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Lewis Campbell, 1906)) — 179 focus
LEADER OF CH
Hush! that was Teucer’s cry. Methought I heard
His voice salute this object of dire woe.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (German (J. J. C. Donner, 1875; OCR review)) — 182 focus
Nie doch in früherer Zeit, Telamonier,
Hast du dich also verirrt, wider Heerden loszugeh'n;
Dir schlugen wohl die Götter den Geist: doch es halte
Das üble Volksgerede Zeus und Phöbos fern!
Wenn im Geheimen indeß
185
Die Lüg' ersann der mächtigen Könige Groll 1
Und jener arge Sprosse von Sisyphos' Blut:
Nicht länger birg dich, Herr, in den Zelten am Meer,
Nicht den Ruf, den schmähenden, wecke!
Schlußgesang.
English (Robert Potter, 1788) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Robert Potter, 1788)) — 179 focus
Chorus
Fix'd was thy purpose, yes, ill-fated Chief,
Inflexibly thy heart was fix'd to seize
Fit time t' accomplish this disastrous end
Of thy unbounded griefs : such were thy groans
By night, by day; such thy relentless hate,
With passions breathing ruin, 'gainst the sons
Of Atreus. The deep cause of all thy ills
Rose from the contest for the glorious meed
To valour due, the arms Achilles wore.
English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904) (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Sir Richard Jebb, 1904)) — 172-200 focus

Commentary

Commentary (R. C. Jebb) (OCR draft) (Commentary (R. C. Jebb))

mvp-comment-626-1 πρόσεστιν 1

mvp-comment-626-2 αἰσχύνη 2

mvp-comment-627-1 ὅπου … παρῇ 3

mvp-comment-627-2 βούλεται 4

mvp-comment-628-1 νόμιζε 5 χρόνῳ ποτὲ … πεσεῖν 6 ἐξ οὐρίων δραμοῦσαν 7 ποτ’ ἂν 8

mvp-comment-628-2 ἐξ οὐρίων 9

mvp-comment-629-1 ἑστάτω 10

mvp-comment-629-2 μοι 11

mvp-comment-629-3 καὶ δέος 12 καίριον 13

mvp-comment-630-1 ἃν ἡδώμεθα 14

mvp-comment-630-2 οὐκ ἀντιτείσειν 15 ἃν λυπώμεθα 16

mvp-comment-631-1 παραλλὰξ 17 αἴθων 18

Commentary (Lewis Campbell, 1879) (OCR draft) (Commentary (Lewis Campbell, 1879)) focus

1079. mvp-comment-692-1 Cp. Thuc. 2. 37. § 4, διὰ δέος .. οὐ παρανομοῦμεν: ib. 43. § 1, τολμῶντες καὶ γιγνώσκοντες τὰ δέοντα καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις αἰσχυνόμενοι.

1081-1082. mvp-comment-693-1 ὅπου. ταύτην] For this correlation, cp. supr. 496, 7, εἰ γὰρ θάνῃς ταύτῃ τῇ τόθ᾽ ἡμέρᾳ. ἃ βούλεται] Sc. τις.

1083. mvp-comment-694-1 ἐξ οὐρίων δραμοῦσαν] 'Must lose her fair course and founder in the deep.' The aorist denotes what is certain in the future, as in Aesch. Prom. 667, 8, πυρωπὸν ἐκ Διὸς μολεῖν | κεραυνόν. ἐξ οὐρίων (neut. pl.) = ἐκ τοῦ οὐρίου δρόμου, just as οὔρια θεῖν = ἐς οὔριον δρόμον θεῖν (L. and S. s. ν. οὔριος, Ι. 1). Cp. Aesch. Prom. 883, 4, ἔξω δὲ δρόμου φέρομαι | λύσσης πνεύματι μάργῳ: Pind. Pyth. 11. 60, ἤ μέ τις ἄνεμος ἔξω πλόου | ἔβαλεν, ὡς ὅτ᾽ ἄκατον εἰναλίαν. It is true that, as Lobeck remarks, ἐξ οὐρίων, sc. πνευμάτων, is used by late writers as equivalent to ἐξ οὐρίας, sc. πνοῆς, – 'With a fair wind.' But what meaning can be attached to this phrase here? 'Will run a straight course to the bottom'? or, 'Will have a fair voyage, and then sink'? The former is nonsensical, and in the latter the oxymoron has no such point as in O. Τ. 423, ἄνορμον εἰσέπλευσας, εὐπλοίας τυχών. Or, if it is proposed to render, 'After once having had prosperity, will run on and founder in the depths,' the introduction of the participle is inconsistent with this use of ἐξ, for which, however, cp. Thuc. 1. 120, ἐξ εἰρήνης πολεμεῖν.

1084. mvp-comment-695-1 Lobeck says on this verse, 'Perquam apte hoc Menelaus dicit ex Spartanorum institutis, qui Timoris aedem consecraverunt juxta triclinium Ephororum, τὴν πολιτείαν μάλιστα συνέχεσθαι φόβῳ νομίζοντες, Plutarch. V. Cleom. c. 9. 808 D.' The words of Pericles in Thuc. 2. 37 (quoted on l. 1079, supr.), would rather show that this part of Menelaus' speech reflects the feelings of the 'party of order' at Athens. The coryphaeus ( infr. 1091) approves of the general tenor of the speech. For ἑστάτω, of a fixed sentiment, cp. Thuc. 3. 9, τὸ .. καθεστός.

1085. mvp-comment-696-1 δρῶντες ἂν ἡδώμεθα] Sc. δρῶντες.

1086. mvp-comment-697-1 ἂν λυπώμεθα] Sc. ἀποτίνοντες. For the mood, which is here partly due to the parallelism of ἡδώμεθα, cp. O. C. 190 (according to one reading), ἵν᾽ ἂν εἴπωμεν. It may be explained as an instance of prolepsis, a consequence being treated as a condition. The first person is idiomatic, i.e. 'Let not men think.'

1087. mvp-comment-698-1 ταῦτα] τὸ ἥδεσθαι καὶ τὸ τίνειν, 'These things go by turns.' i. e. pleasure brings pain. In the following lines he returns from general reflections to the case in point.